"As a Jew," Wasserman Schultz invokes Holocaust in making case for bombing Syria

@MarcACaputo

U.S. Rep. and Democratic National Committee leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz today issued a statement that called on Congress to approve President Obama's call for war.

Tonight, she kicked it up a notch in an interview on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, where she invoked the Holocaust. Wasserman Schultz noted that her Weston-to-Miami Beach District has one of the largest Holocaust-survivor populations in the nation.

"As a Jew," she said, "the concept of 'never again' has to mean something." She also noted the "searing images" of children killed in what appears to have been a chemical-weapons strike

Indeed. But the concept of Bashar al-Assad as Hitler is something the Obama Administration and his supporters have to prove to a majority of the members of Congress.

And they haven't done it yet.

Instead, backers for war in Syria simply say that classified U.S. intelligence stringly indicates Assad used chemical weapons. So what's the evidence?

Those concerns were echoed by Hillary Mann Leverett, a former official in President Bush's and Clinton's White House, on MSNBC: "It is strikingly similar to the lead-up to the war in Iraq." She makes the case for how actors other than Assad might have initiated the chemical attack and seems to wonder why Assad would use the weapons when he appeared to be winning on the battlefield.

"The rest of the world does not believe what we're saying for good reason: We made it up last time," she said.

Her comments start at 3:40 in the clip below Wasserman Schultz's statement (sans the Holocaust reference):

WASHINGTON - Following a classified briefing on Sunday for Members of Congress on the actions of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23) released the following statement:

"After receiving this classified briefing and being briefed by the White House National Security staff late last week, there is no doubt that the Assad regime is using chemical weapons against its own people, including innocent children. As a leader in the world community, the United States cannot be silent and turn our back on such atrocities. I agree with Secretary Kerry’s statement that the campaign launched by the Assad regime against its own people is a moral obscenity that cannot go unanswered.

“If the Assad regime is willing to use these weapons on innocent civilians and children in his own country, we must consider that no neighboring country is safe, including Israel, Jordan and Turkey, all of which are strong and important allies of the United States in the region.

“It is my firm opinion that the use of limited military force is not only warranted, but necessary to send a resolute message to Bashar al-Assad that these types of atrocities cannot, and will not be tolerated by the United States.

“I know that many in this country are weary of war, but each military conflict is unique. Iraq was not Bosnia, and Libya was not Afghanistan. The evidence is clear to me that Syria violated a 100-year-old international norm against use of chemical weapons as a legitimate weapon of war. Accountability for this horrific violation should be certain and severe.

“The use of military force must be weighed carefully, and be held as a last resort. President Obama was right to seek Congressional approval of his proposal to hold Assad accountable. We will benefit from hearing one another’s insights as representatives of the American people. As Congress prepares to debate and vote on whether the Syrian regime’s heinous actions should be met with a limited use of American military force, I will voice my support and cast my “aye” vote reflecting my conscience and my belief as a mother, that at the very least, we must stand up to a tyrant murdering his nation’s children.”

The French are upset that they have lost their "influence" in Syria to the Russians. The Russians are getting back at us once again for helping the Afghans defeat them and send many dead Russian soldiers back to the motherland in coffins.

The Syrian atrocities need to be handled by the United Nations. The civil war in Syria is a sectarian issue that will eventually be decided by the Syrian people. We should be very cautious about stepping into this conflict without United Nations support. When our allies get cold feet, we should re-think our position. We should NOT go it alone or at all.

DWS is an out and out Commie , big mouth B,,c, ! What happened during the Holocaust , and what is occurring in Syria , are 2 different stories . They are not the same , Debbie . As a Jew , I am worried about Israel . they are the defacto pawn in this whole mid--east mess. They will and are getting assistance from us . But to go into Syria when the good guy is not present anywhere , is a mistake . We do not need to be on the wrong side of this conflict . There is no Right side . We need to remain neutral .

It's classified,I can't tell you, typical liberal democrat answer to any question. There's only one thing more crooked then Debbie Wasserman Schultzspeech, that's her mouth. This Forest Hills Long Island JAP moved to Florida where she says she lives with many Holocaust survivors. What does that have to do with this? Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews. Obama should have had a plan set up to deal with this when it happened. He is the most incompetent president in American History!

Rather interesting to see Dems arguing so staunchly for war. Won't even mention the irony. General rule of common sense, though, if you want to know the right course of action to take on "any" issue take the opposite position of Wasserman-Schultz. Works 95%+ of the time.

With the US starting wars with lies and fake terror attacks (like the Nazis did at Gleiwitz and the Reichstag fire), running Nazi-like concentration camps (like GITMO), using torture to extract confessions (GITMO and Abu Ghraib), a scapegoated minority (Hitler used the Jews while the US uses Muslims), and bankrupting the nation for a fleet of "wonder weapons" (The V1, V2, compared with the Predator, Reaper, etc.), constantly spying on the people (Gestapo versus NSA, PRISM, TSA, etc.) ... I would be very careful hurling around comparisons between the present day and Nazi Germany, because the US fits that particular shoe far more closely that Syria does.

With our highways, dikes, bridges and schools crumbling, massive unemployment, cuts to food stamps Wasserman-Schultz wants to spend half a billion dollars a week (at least) to stop chemical attacks that even the government says it does not know the origins.My suggestion to Wasserman-Schultz, move to Israel...please.

Alluding to comparisons between Syria and Nazi Germany is wrong in this case. Our nation, the U.S., on the other hand, seems to be matching up fairly close with the Nazi regime in Germany.

We are getting sick of seeing innocent people being murdered to gain the support for another invasion by US/Israel. Make no mistake, this is very much an Israeli operation too (not just a Neo-con call for war), with Netanyahu and many of those Jewish people in positions of power in the U.S. DEMANDING, in some cases, that Americans foot the bill for another GRUESOME episode in bombing another nation.

We are making a list of the individuals using propaganda and their positions of power to demand that our kids go do the killing for these abusive powers. We will bring those to justice who keep making up lies to justify invasions (make no mistake, not one of these people care about those chemical victims).

Tired of seeing conspiracy theories about this that had no proof except for an instinctual dislike of Israel, the US and France. We know Assad has contributed tithe mess over there so it's likely he added chemical weapons to the ways he's killing his own people. Yes it's a shame we can't address poverty or other atrocities around the world, but our hypocrisy and laziness in regards to many problems doesn't actually justify continued inaction in the face of a brutal war. The rebels are no saints, but a regime that constantly strafed refugee lines and bombed neighborhoods full of civilians is as bad if not worse.